UK news

In Britain, e-cigarettes are seen as central to the fight against smoking, but many experts believe the evidence is contradictoryIn politically fractious times, vaping has achieved the impossible. It has morphed into a common enemy for those at opposit…

Gulf in healthy life expectancy reveals widening regional inequalities, according to parliamentary reportThe gap in healthy life expectancy between parts of Britain has widened over the past decade to become as large as that between the UK and Sudan, a…

Ex-British Lions captain believed to be first UK sportsman to go public about living with virusWelsh rugby star Gareth Thomas has revealed that he is HIV positive.Mr Thomas, who came out as gay in 2009, is thought to be the first UK sportsman to go pub…

Labour describes the cuts as ‘shameful and utterly counterproductive’Help for children who are addicted to drink or drugs is being slashed in the latest round of cuts to public health services that ministers are imposing on councils.Councils across Eng…

Prof Arne Akbar, president of the British Society for Immunology, says compulsory vaccination is a blunt tool which could increase health inequities and alienate parents. Plus Prof Helen Stokes-Lampard and others call for a funded postnatal medical app…

GPs would miss fewer diagnoses if ‘camouflaging’ was better understood, say researchersWomen may not be diagnosed with autism as frequently as men because they are better at hiding the common signs of the condition, according to new research.Some autis…

Drowning our sorrows in duty-free whisky may be the only way to cope but as official policy, it stinksIn a government gearing up for an election, where every statement is supposed to be choreographed as part of a finely tuned grid of speeches and event…

Short-termism has hampered investment in equipment and staffing that could help the NHS keep people alive • Mark Dayan is a policy analyst at the Nuffield TrustCancer survival rates in the UK have long lagged behind those in other countries of comparab…

Public health body calculates undiagnosed sufferers after monitoring drugs usersAlmost 100,000 Britons are at risk of dying because they do not know that they have the deadly liver disease hepatitis C, health officials are warning.An estimated 95,600 p…

National Trust research finds birdsong and rustling leaves increase relaxation by 30%Gentle woodland sounds such as birdsong and the breeze rustling leaves in the trees are more relaxing than meditation recordings, a new study claims.Researchers expose…

Campaigners hope success will be replicated in England after earlier NHS offer was rejectedThe Scottish government has agreed a deal with the manufacturer of Orkambi, the cystic fibrosis drug that NHS England has said is unaffordable for its patients.S…

Sacked politicians will be given support and reshuffles will not be leaked, first minister saysA raft of measures to safeguard the mental health of sacked government ministers is being proposed in Wales after the death of the Labour politician Carl Sar…

Eight centres to aim to reach a broader group of women, including those younger and not pregnant The NHS is opening female genital mutilation support clinics across England that will allow survivors to access expert care and treatment earlier.More than…

Ryan, 20, was in severe pain for six days with testicular torsion, which cuts off blood supplyA university student was left in severe pain for six days and ended up having his right testicle removed after medics failed to act quickly enough, a report h…

Some spending one-sixth of entire budget on repaying debts from Blair-era policyNHS hospital trusts are being crippled by the private finance initiative and will have to make another £55bn in payments by the time the last contract ends in 2050, a repor…

Big improvement in past two decades fails to close gap with likes of Australia and CanadaCancer survival rates in the UK have improved markedly over recent decades but still lag behind those of comparable countries, a major research exercise has shown….

Matt Hancock asked about health implications of ‘cheap booze and fags’ amid growing anger among expertsMatt Hancock has voiced unease at the government reintroducing duty-free drink and cigarettes if there is a no-deal Brexit, amid growing anger among …

From gentle strolls to cups of tea, the market town of St Ives in Cambridgeshire is trying to confront isolation and mental distress“A minister, a pub landlord and a mayor … it sounds like the start of a really bad joke, doesn’t it?” The Rev Matt Finch…

Surgeons and anaesthetists are turning down work as higher earnings risk massive tax billsMinisters have proposed a major overhaul of the NHS pension scheme to try to stop doctors cutting their hours in order to avoid falling into a “tax trap” that mea…

NHS trust says parents’ request to fly Tafida Raqeeb to Italy for treatment sets a dangerous precedentA legal challenge by the parents of a seriously ill five-year-old girl against the refusal of an NHS trust to allow her to fly to Italy for treatment …